Hospital is delayed in fears over nuns’ land
Cabinet still worried about Church role
MINISTERS yesterday delayed proposals to relocate the National Maternity Hospital to a site owned by an order of nuns.
A government source said Fine Gael and Green Party female Ministers raised concerns about the plan to push ahead with the development of the new hospital on St Vincent’s campus in South Dublin.
And it is reported that they sought assurances from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly that all legal services, including abortion, would be accessible to women at the new maternity hospital.
The source said Green Party Minister Catherine Martin was “very vocal” about the framework governing the move.
Justice Minister Helen Mcentee and Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also questioned Minister Donnelly as Opposition TDS called for assurances of clinical independence.
It’s understood the memo brought forward by Minister Donnelly will be reconsidered in two weeks’ time.
Minister Donnelly will publish legal agreements which set up new structures for the hospital and he will also attend the Oireachtas health committee to answer questions on the plan.
Speaking last night, Minister Donnelly admitted “genuine concerns” have been raised.
He said: “The biggest concern people are raising is they want absolute reassurance that the new hospital will be fully independent, clinically independent and will offer all services.
“That is absolutely the case. “One of the things we want to do now is to publish the documents so that people can see for themselves the clinical
protection.” Minister Donnelly also revealed last night that any Minister for Health would own a “Golden Share” in the company “which allows them to intervene if for some reason, all clinical services are not being provided”.
When asked why he failed to convince his Cabinet colleagues to sign off on the memo, Minister Donnelly said the discussion was about what legal protections were in place.
He said Cabinet agreed that there are members of the public with genuine concerns.
And he added that “given the history in this state of women’s healthcare, lets publish the documents first, let people see all the documentation first”.
The selection of the hospital’s location has been highly contentious due to the site’s ownership by the Religious Sisters of Charity, which led to questions about whether Catholic ethos could influence its medical practices.
At last night’s press conference a fact sheet about the new National Maternity Hospital confirmed all procedures will be accessible at the new hospital including abortion, tubal ligation, fertility services and gender reassignment procedures.
However, the Cabinet’s holding off of its approval of Minister Donnelly’s memo has been viewed as a sign it was rushed and “does not help the controversy around the hospital”, a source said.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has reiterated that there will be no further delay on the development of the hospital.
He said he was “genuinely satisfied that safeguards are in place” and stressed that the existing maternity facilities at Holles Street are not fit for purpose.